My education and professional experiences

Being born into a family of musicians, music accompanied me from my first breath and first steps. As usual in similar cases, it was understandable that I would learn to play any instrument.

At an age of seven or eight I started to study violin - frankly without any interest, joy and success - at least until the moment I started to learn piano (as obligatory second instrument in the music school). I made enormous progress and at the beginning of the sixties (1962), I founded my own rock band “Pirati” (later "Uskoci"). Funny enough that exactly this one year of my piano playing on stage was crucial for me to “fall in love” and choose definitively music as my profession.

My attitude to violin also changed and I started to practice and enjoy playing violin and later viola. Through the lessons of chamber music held by my uncle Zvonimir Pomykalo I came in touch with Baroque music.

In 1966 I became a regular member of the Zagreb Radio and TV Symphony orchestra. Shortly after that I started my study of viola on the Academy of Music in Zagreb and made my diploma there in 1970.

My professional life in those years (1966 - 1983) - beside living for Early music – varied between playing in orchestra, living as a "free-lance" musician and working in some offices like Jeunesses Musicales.

After moving to Austria, in 1983, beside performing early music, for twelve years (1988 - 2000) I was working as salesman in the famous Viennese music store and publishing house "Doblinger".

Early Music

My "love affair" with Early Music had began already in 1964, due to the concert of the "NY Pro Musica" Ensemble in Zagreb but I seriously started to study it and shortly afterwards to perform it in 1969.

From 1970 until 1983 I was leading two of the best and most successful early music ensembles of Croatia and former Yugoslavia: "Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis" - Zagreb and "Fridrik   Grisogono" - Zadar.

In 1983 my second wife Mira and I moved to Vienna, Austria and both started to collaborate with several Austrian Early Music ensembles, among others "Clemencic Consort", "Les Menestrels" and our own "Ensemble Lyra Wien".

During my life in Vienna and later in Italy, I began the collaboration with several international ensembles like "Micrologus", "Musica Ricercata" (Italy) and "Daedalus" (Switzerland).

Due to my specialisation on both Lire (da braccio and da gamba/ Lirone), from 1996 on I also started my soloist Early Music career giving recitals and concerts with lectures on various symposia, in museums or festivals.

With all mentioned ensembles or as a soloist, I recorded more than twenty LP and CD records, I recorded for various European radio and TV houses, I performed in whole Europe and Israel and made a study visit in the USA.

Homerecording

Like most of my colleagues, I started to make some experimental recordings already in the early 70es and it became more intense (thanks to the development of PCs) since 1999/2000.

In the years 2005 - 2007 I got serious problems with one and later both shoulders and decided to end my public music career. Therefore, the activity of Home recording seemed an ideal

possibility to "stay in touch" with the world of music and to return to my first "love" with rock music. From 2008 until 2011 I attained several online courses in Germany, at HOFA Studios and Audiocation Academy, getting the diploma of Audio Engineer Professional.

Since 2016 I have been producing a CD project every year (see under My Projects and in the Multimedia Corner).